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Barrie Kosky Builds a New Mahagonny at the Komische Oper Berlin

Oct. 01, 2021

Barrie Kosky Builds a New <em>Mahagonny</em> at the Komische Oper Berlin

Taking his cue from the many biblical references in Weill and Brecht’s libretto, director Barrie Kosky premiered a controversial new production of Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny at the Komische Oper Berlin on October 2. It appears only weeks after the premiere of Kosky’s lauded production of Die Dreigroschenoper at the Berliner Ensemble. This new reading of Weill’s epic opera challenges the audience to make sense out of the dissonance between words and music, between the seen and the unseen, and between the spoken/sung and the unspoken. Kurt Weill Foundation President Kim H. Kowalke reflects, “Kosky obviously trusts the power of Weill’s music to end the opera with one dead body on stage, as an amplified off-stage chorus sang ‘Nothing you can do will help a dead man,’ ending in a shattering Mahlerian climax. That is daring, if not paradigm changing.” Read the reviews and view media here.

A video recording of the opening night performance is available free of charge through October 29:


(Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny | Stream-on-Demand | Komische Oper Berlin)


To learn more about Kurt Weill, visit kwf.org or schott-music.com.

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